Life in the kitchen is never rosy. Sometimes, you have to do multiple things all at once: either to achieve the best possible result or to save time. And, trust me, it can be physically and mentally draining.
This is why we’ve taken the time to put together for you some of the best kitchen hacks that will make your kitchen life easier and less time-consuming.
From how to handle sticky fingers after cutting unripe plantains to dealing with turmeric stains on palms and containers, to big-time Harry Porter hacks that will make you tell a rotten egg apart from a good one – we’ve got you covered.
Slow down tomato rot
Don’t we all hate it when our tomatoes get all soft and mushy? Here is a simple hack that can help you extend the life of your tomatoes and postpone doomsday.
Place them face down: by face, we’re referring to the stem end where it was detached from the tree. This helps prevent air from entering and moisture from exiting the tomato via the eye.
Extend plantain and banana lifespan
Waking up to your plantains or bananas all ripened up at the same time can be quite annoying: especially when you don’t need much of it at that moment. Now you’re left wondering, “What in the George of the Jungle madness is this now?”
Next time, wrap the end of the bunch with a plastic bag to block the ethylene gases from escaping via the stem. This will stop them from ripening too fast.
Keep your apple slices fresh for longer
“I love my apple slices looking all ugly, withered, and browny”, said no cook ever!
To prolong the lifespan of your apple slices and keep their appeal, squeeze a couple of drops of lemon juice on them or sprinkle a mixture of one part honey and two part water on them.
The citric acid in lemon and peptide in honey helps to slow down the oxidation process which makes it lose its color.
The egg check
Eggs are the perfect definition of “the more you look, the less you see”.
You look at a crate filled with eggs and they all look fresh and healthy, only for you to break one of them and find out it’s bad. Sometimes it could end up messy with you stinking up the whole kitchen.
To find out, simply perform a quick float test by dropping an egg in a bowl of fresh water. If your egg sinks to the base, then you have a perfectly OK Egg, but if it floats then, it’s stale and most likely bad: especially if it floats right up to the top.
Egg shells are porous, making the liquid content in them evaporate over time and leaving a bubble of gas behind.
The higher your egg floats, the staler it is.
Eggshell magnet
Playing hide and seek with egg fragments in a bowl can be really annoying. You end up wasting precious time trying to scoop them out with your spoon while they keep singing “catch me if you can”.
For a much easier experience, next time, try scooping the fragments up with half of an already cracked shell instead. The eggshell will help attract the fragments to itself like a magnet, making your job easier.
You can also use your fingers if you don’t mind. Simply wet them first before you reach right in.
Separating egg yolks from the whites
This is probably the coolest hack you’ll ever try out. No Cap! You’ll never get bored trying it out over and over again.
To separate egg yolks from egg whites, simply get an empty water bottle and place the opening directly above the yolk while squeezing the sides in. As soon as the bottle opening touches the yolk, release the pressure on the bottle and watch the yolk get sucked in like its magic.
Witchcraft 101 ain’t it?
Eggshell peeling made easy-peasy
Peeling eggshells would never bore you out anymore after you learn this hack, especially those annoying fresh ones.
They just won’t stop sticking to the egg flesh eh?
Add some baking soda or vinegar to your water and allow it to work its way into the eggs as it boils. They help to separate the eggshells from the white, making it easy for you to peel them off.
Cleaning turmeric stains
Turmeric is very good for the body as it possess a whole lot of health benefits. Eating it, however, comes at a price, which is coloring your palms and every other thing it comes in contact with yellow.
To get rid of the yellow stains, simply make some baking soda paste with water and apply it to the affected area. Let it sit for about five minutes before washing it with detergent.
Getting rid of plantain/banana sap stain
Unripe plantains make quite a delicacy.
Keeping up with the sticky sap while peeling them off is however quite some challenge. They could have your knife, kitchen tools, the entire household, your Dog, and every other thing you touch getting glued to your palms when you’re done.
It’s no point trying to wash the glue away with detergent and water anyway; it’s a waste of precious time.
To get rid of the sticky sap, simply get a few drops of palm oil on your palm and rub them together thoroughly before washing them with soap and water. The palm oil would help melt the sticky mess, making it easy for it to wash off.
Stopping pots from boiling over
Perhaps you have something cooking on the fire and it starts boiling over and making a mess of your kitchen.
Simply get a wooden spoon and place it across the top of your pot to stop the content from boiling over and spilling out of the pot. As the bubbles rise, the wooden spoon will pop them before they can escape.
This makes a whole lot of sense too. Since wood is not a conductor of heat, it causes the bubbles to stop rising. Also, the spoon being at a cooler temperature than the water would make the bubbles condense back into the water when they meet the spoon.
P.S.: Please note that this hack works just temporarily, giving you some time to finish up whatever you are doing and get back to your cooking. The spoon would overheat after a while and once it gets overwhelmed, the bubbles would find their way out.
Conclusion
If you are here reading this then you must have read through and enjoyed our kitchen hack lessons today. Please try them out at home and get back to us in the comment section. And don’t forget to use the share button.
